In Glimpses of Holiness, Ermal Kirby introduces us to a selection of the ordinary people he imagines gathering in the home of Philemon and Apphia in Colossae to hear, for the first time, the letter which they have received from the apostle Paul, who is imprisoned in Rome. As they listen and reflect, we begin to learn with them what holiness means for them in their daily lives. The "glimpses of holiness" are there to be discovered in every chapter. The author poses a series of questions for...

How can we hold fast to the hope of life eternal when we lose someone we love? In this book William Abraham reflects on the nature of certainty and the logic of hope in the context of an experience of devastating grief.Abraham opens with a stark account of the effects of grief in his own life after the unexpected death of his oldest son. Drawing on the book of Job, Abraham then looks at the significance of grief in debates about the problem of evil. He probes what Christianity teach...

The publication of William J. Abraham's The Logic of Evangelism in 1989 marked a turning point in the field and practice of evangelism. Almost thirty years later the book still provokes discussion as it stimulates both theorists and practitioners to comprehend evangelism as initiation into God's reign. Combining theological insight and historical analysis, Abraham's groundbreaking work remains the primary text to set the stage for how evangelism may be conceived. In these timely essays wri...

In the wake of 9/11 much has been written on terrorism. Some have examined the potential relation between religion and terrorism, few, if any, have studied the relation between theology and terrorism. In the latter case, the crucial issue is whether theology provides indirect or direct motivation and justification for terrorist acts. Drawing on his childhood and youth in Northern Ireland, William J. Abraham tackles the latter question head on. He argues that religious themes and practices ...

In The Oxbridge Evangelist: Motivations, Practices, and Legacy of C. S. Lewis, Michael Gehring examines the evangelistic practices of one of the most significant lay evangelists of the twentieth century. In the early 1930s not many who knew Lewis would have guessed that he would become such a significant evangelist. He has left an evangelistic legacy that has influenced millions across the world. Yet Lewis scholarship has not given sufficient attention to this crucial aspect of his legacy....

Did the decisive event in the history of Israel even happen?The Bible presents a living God who speaks and acts, and whose speaking and acting is fundamental to his revelation of himself. God's action in history may seem obvious to many Christians, but modern philosophy has problematized the idea. Today, many theologians often use the Bible to speak of God while, at best, remaining agnostic about whether he has in fact acted in history.Historical revelation is central to bo...

This "miscellany" puts readers around the table with a teacher who has provided the church with wisdom and passion and introduces a new voice to the ongoing conversation about the relationship between the gospel and culture. Andrew Walker's "ecclesial intelligence" and broad interdisciplinary approach to theology and sociology will undoubtedly capture the imagination of many who are curious about the church's mission in the modern West. Notes from a Wayward Son represents a broad sampling ...

America in the late nineteenth century was undergoing enormous societal shifts. Immigration and urbanization were changing the face of the country. New discoveries and new perspectives on old verities stretched its mind and stirred its soul. The recently concluded Civil War left America bloodied, its self-confidence bruised, and its capacity for controversy weakened. American churches responded to these upheavals in different ways with long-lasting consequences. The reaction of one small b...

The theology of Karl Barth has been a productive dialogue partner for evangelical theology. For too long, however, the dialogue has been dominated by questions of orthodoxy. The present volume seeks to contribute to the conversation through a creative reconfiguration of both partners in the conversation, neither of whom can be rightly understood as preservers of Protestant Orthodoxy. Rather, American evangelicalism is identified with the revivalist forms of Protestantism that arose in the ...

Now and then through the history of the church a great light appears, a prophet who calls the church back to its missional vocation. These reformers are lovers of God, mystics whose lives are utterly given to the divine vision. Yet as Jesus noted, a prophet is often without honor among her own people. In the case of Phoebe Palmer (1807-1874), honor was lost posthumously, for within a few decades after her death her name all but disappeared. Palmer's sanctification theology was separated fr...

What do Christians believe-and why does it matter?In Key Christian Beliefs: Grace and Truth in the Wesleyan Tradition, theologians David F. Watson and William J. Abraham invite readers to rediscover the core teachings of the faith through the lens of grace. Rooted in Scripture and the historic witness of the church, this clear and accessible guide explores who God is, what it means to be human, how salvation works, and why doctrine still shapes our lives today.More...

Theosis shapes contemporary Orthodox theology in two ways: positively and negatively. In the positive sense, contemporary Orthodox theologians made theosis the thread that bound together the various aspects of theology in a coherent whole and also interpreted patristic texts, which experienced a renaissance in the twentieth century, even in Orthodox theology. In the negative sense, contemporary theologians used theosis as a triumphalistic club to beat down Cathol...